General Information (Details) (USD $)			12 Months Ended
	Nov. 05, 2012	May 21, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011 Cooper Industries plc [Domain]
General Information [Line Items]
Business acquisition, revenue reported by acquired entity for last annual period			$ 5,400,000,000
Cooper shareholders receipt of cash from ECL for each ordinary share of Cooper Industries plc		39.15
Cooper shareholder % receipt of an ECL share for an ordinary share of Copper Industries plc		77.479%
Total consideration to be received by Cooper Industries shareholders	$ 12,900,000,000
Compensation to Cooper shareholders based on closing price of Eaton common stock	$ 50.49
Former Eaton shareholders ownership of ECL		73.00%
Former Cooper Industries shareholders ownership of ECL		27.00%